Ronin No More Rewrite
by Black Lothlorien
Summary: Due to repeated requests, Ronin No More is back and better than ever. Don't get confused by the ending of Chapter Two. *wink*
1. Chapter One

_Five years since the Hell Gates opened…_

_Ten years since the Ronins had triumphed over Talpa…_

_Fifteen years since Sage's tenth birthday…_

_Twenty years since he had begun to train…_

_Yet…___

_Only one day…_

_Since the greatest Adventure had really started…_

Five years ago, Sage made his announcement. 

He was leaving. Permanently? He did not know.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation had learned about his ability to 'read' auras.

How they found out, he would probably never know.

His 'other-sight' was a deep, innate skill that he had always possessed, even before becoming a Ronin. The FBI wanted him to work for them. In return, he would have the life he'd always dreamed of…

No Ronins, no Kayura asking him to jump into another fight, no bondage to the armor that dragged him down incessantly, and, most importantly, no more whispering voice in his ear.

It spoke to him of each flare of the sun, each flicker of a candle, every single tip of light that ever was born around him. Light bulbs burned his eyes, so sensitive was he to this, and it bothered him to no end.

So he would leave, no words of protest, no arguments.

He was leaving the Ronins, _his friends, behind in order to start a new life, one that was created in a new world, a place of freedom and opportunities that would never arise in Japan…_

Kento hated him for it.

Even now, Sage could still remember the hate in his eyes. He was slinging his backpack over his shoulder and turning to board the plane when he glimpsed Kento Rei Faun's anger-filled glare, from where he stood on the other side of the gate-room.

He never thought that a Ronin could hate that purely.

The plane to America was depressingly quiet. No whispers to comfort him, no twinges to glance away from…he saw normally, without the pinpricks of pure light stabbing his eyes.

Then Kayura spoke to him.

Even as he glanced down at his laptop, he could hear her voice, soft, echoing, childlike. It pervaded his mind, and he could do nothing to stop her. He was human.

_Sage, why did you sever from Korin? She seemed surprised and perplexed, __Do you have any idea what you have done?_

He tried to shake her from his head, but to no avail.

_Without a warrior of light, the powers in the spiritual realms has become unbalanced, She continued, her face appearing before him, superimposed on his computer screen, __You know of what I speak._

"Find someone else," He had whispered. There was no one around him, the plane was half-empty, "I was the smart one. I got out while I still could. I won't be a slave to the armor anymore, Kayura. I won't."

_You have found the truth, Sage, She sighed, __No mortal can truly control the armor. The armor controls them, which is why you were all bonded to it at such an early age. So you would feel no different when you called upon the armor…_

"But we would feel empty without it."

She nodded, _But__ you were different—_

"They're all slaves, addicted to this thing you call armor, and you tricked them into believing that it was they who controlled the fates of the world," He had held his voice down, "Find a new lackey, Kayura. This one quits."

He had slammed the laptop closed. Obviously taking the opportunity to regroup her thoughts, Kayura slipped from his mind.

That had been five years ago.

Upon reaching Washington DC, Sage had been met by Tyler Kohen, an agent that was barely five years older than he was. The two had become instant friends, just add coffee…and, of course, Krispy Kreme donuts.

The first two years were spent training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Once Sage had survived through that, he spent six months in a laboratory, as doctors and scientists attempted to figure out how his 'other-sight' worked.

When they failed, Sage was told that he was a 'valuable asset' and was to 'remain in close proximity' to the Washington DC area, unless notified by his superiors.

For a half of a year, Sage was an assistant interrogations agent, then was promoted to a full interrogator. His other-sight served him and the government system well, proving innocence where it was hidden, and guilt where it was buried.

Then came a case that he could not just sit in a blank, cold concrete room and simply watch on television.

A man named Udon Vo Saeki, a murderer, robber, and drug-dealer, had graduated to bank robbery, grand larceny…and Sage was not about to miss it, as he had been the pivotal witness in two of his cases, which had ended in convictions for Saeki.

He had disappeared after his last conviction, after screaming a curse of revenge on Sage…and a promise that he knew a secret about the FBI agent that no one else would ever dream of knowing.

"You ready for your first field job?" Tyler grinned his twenty-eight-going-on-eighteen playboy grin at a female officer-on-duty, who seemed less than amazed with his ego, "It's been what, four years since the Academy? And they're only now assigning you to a real case?"

"Three years, Tyler, three, not four," Sage had grinned at his friend, reveling in every moment of the freedom and adrenaline that pumped through his veins, "And it's about time."

"Just don't get yourself killed, all right?" Tyler turned serious, "I lost Connor that way, and I sure as hell don't want to lose you too." Sage knew how hard it was for an agent, even one as young as Tyler, to lose a partner to a bullet, especially one that had been meant for him…

"Relax, Tyler, I'm not going to get myself killed, not in your lifetime anyway," He chuckled, "I've never lost someone like that, but I've come close to being lost myself."

"Tell me all about it later, over a cup of Java…and your cup of tea. Anyway, let's see what's going on," Tyler approached the police officer in charge, "I'm Agent Kohen, this is my partner, Agent Date. Can you brief us on the situation?"

"Two snipers on the roof, Saeki ain't inside, but his two goons are, with one hostage, a little boy named Ricky Wages," The white haired man humphed. His nametag marked him as Captain Kerry Michols, "We've lost three bank guards to this ass, and all he does is laugh at us."

Sage grimaced and looked at the windows that formed the massive entrance to the prestigious bank, "He's going to be inside when we go in."

"What?" Michols demanded, crossing his arms, "And how would you know that?"

"Sage has a little more up here—" Tyler grinned and tapped his head, "—Then either your or I have. Let's just say that there _is a reason that he's a full, active agent at twenty-three."_

"Field or office?" The police's press liaison, a rather punk-looking woman with blue hair that matched her navy suit sneered at the two agents, her eyes taunting them from under black eyeshadow, "You look like a Pale-Baby to me."

"Pale-Baby?" Tyler looked at her, his eyebrows on the rise.

"Someone who spend their duty hours in an office instead of outside, either on a beat or case," Sage winked at her, though anyone else would have mistaken it for a blink. She, on the other hand, knew exactly what it was.

"Get moving, One-Eye," She snapped and turned towards Captain Michols, "If you're gonna save that little boy, you'd better hurry."

"Do we have a time limit?" Sage glanced at Tyler.

"Yup," Tyler grimaced again, "A little something called 'half an hour, or else we kill the kid.' Gotta love the good ol' pressure cooker…"

"Let's go, then," Sage checked his gun to make sure that the clip was secure and the safety was on, "The snipers are just that, so we should have no problems."

"How do you know all this?" The liaison snapped, chewing her gum loudly.

"He's a mind-reader," Tyler grinned at the skeptical look on her face, "We don't have time to show you right now, but I promise, he'd be more than willing to show you later…"

"Enough with matchmaker," Sage shook his head, "He knows that we're coming, right?"

"Yep, he's a-waiting," Michols gestured grandly towards the bank. Sage and Tyler glanced at each other. Tyler carefully checked his gun, his joking demeanor disappearing as he slipped his ready, safeties-off handgun into his holster.

The door had swung open easily in his hand.

Inside, the lobby was quiet, like a tomb in Atlantis at night. That was an analogy that Sage had picked up from an old Ancient Civilizations and Linguistics professor at the Academy, who he sat with often at lunch.

The little boy was sitting smack in the middle of the reception area, to the far side of the marble fountain. He was bound to an old-style chair, one that did not roll. _Pity… Sage thought._

"Hey…buddy, your name is Ricky, isn't it?" Tyler turned on his amiable smile as he spoke quietly to the child from where they stood in the relative safety of the front door frame. He waved, "You okay?"

The little boy glanced over his shoulder and spoke in broken words, "I—okay…" 

_Yeah right, Sage thought as he shook his head, trying to clear his mind of everything around him. It took him a while to tune out Tyler's breathing, the gentle lapping and splashing of the fountain, his own heart beating…_

When he opened his eyes, he saw a whole new world. Walls bent and shifted, floors warped and waved while auras surrounded everything. For the most part, they were faint, white shadows, marking inanimate, neutral objects.

The boy's aura was of a regular strength, white for an innocent, but tinged with orange for fear and scattered other colors marking apprehension, sadness, and even guilt. There were two pillars on either side of the room that glowed vague dark purple, meaning that they were inanimate, but held something dangerous.

Sage pulled his gun and took a step forward onto what his mind thought was a bucking, heaving floor. He stumbled slightly, but got his bearings. Tyler followed closely, keeping within whisper range.

"What's wrong with you? You walk like you're drunk," He hissed.

"I'm trying to keep us alive," Sage had snapped back, knowing exactly what he was doing…well, for the most part, "Two pillars, one four to the right, the other five to the left. The gunmen are hidden there."

"And how do you know that?" Tyler snapped, his gun at the ready. It dawned on him when he glanced at his friend's cloudy, glassed over eyes, "Oh, yeah, almost forgot about that little detail…"

"Get the boy. Saeki is here," He held his gun towards one of the two pillars. Tyler finished untying the kid and picked the small boy up carefully, rubbing his back soothingly as he began to cry.

Sage knew the movement was coming when a human aura, partially hidden by the pillar, suddenly turned bright red instead of warning red. He knew the gunfire was coming before it actually did…

The blonde agent pushed the older man and child out of the way. They went crashing into a potted plant as the soft _zip, zip, zip of a silenced handgun and the deafening __pow, pow, pow of a hand gun shattered the air._

He went down.

"_Sage!" Tyler screamed, setting the little boy down. He urged little Ricky to dash towards the front door, and the little boy needed no more urging. For a tiny child barely out of Pull-Ups, he could sure run when he needed to._

The silenced shooting continued as a black clothed figure descended the main staircase, snapping off rounds at the marble floor around the fallen agent. He was as cocky as a bird, strutting towards his prey, his ego swelling.

"I knew that I would get you in here, Date," He snickered, keeping the silenced gun pointed at the fallen man as the two goons and one sniper stood around him, "Did you really think that I would kill a child just for some money?"

Sage didn't answer. He was too busy trying to keep the air in his lungs.

"This was all just for you," Saeki sneered, "You put me in jail the two times in my life that it mattered most, Date. I had a child born during one of those ten-year stretches, and they wouldn't let me out so I could see my son. The other, the twenty-years, I missed my wife's death."

"I'm so sorry," Sage gasped, his shoulder throbbing.

The older Japanese man scowled and hooked his boot under Sage's shoulder, rolling him onto his back. Sage looked up at the man with clear eyes. The pain had chased his other-sight away, and now he had no idea what the criminal had planned.

Saeki placed his boot on the bullet wound and applied pressure, pressing Sage's injured shoulder against the floor. He smiled as the agent grimaced in pain, "Now, Agent Kohen, you come out from wherever you are, or your friend goes through…unnecessary pain."

Sage remembered Tyler stepping out from behind the pillar…his gun firing.

There had been one final _zip, and a swift kick as Saeki dove away, and it sent Sage spinning into oblivion._

The bullet had torn a furrow into Sage's side, and the doctor at the local hospital said that he was lucky that it didn't knick anything vital. Tyler just shook his head, saying something about the irony of getting shot on the first mission out.

Needless to say, Sage was a little embarrassed when his supervising agent came into his office cubicle a few weeks later. He was struggling with the phone, his right arm in a sling, and she just chuckled and walked away.

It took four months for him to heal completely. He was so used to healing quickly with his armor. Now that he didn't have it, he kept reopening his wounds, unused to having to wait in order to recover.

Six months after the fiasco in the bank, Saeki still had not resurfaced. Sage was a little surprised to learn that he had escaped the bank, but not completely amazed. In fact, from the look in the criminal's eyes, he knew that the man would not forget this…

Then came that damned invitation…

Tyler and his fiancé had asked him to come with to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate their upcoming wedding.  Needless to say, Sage had felt like a fifth wheel, but he took it all in stride.

The restaurant was a little too traditional for his personal taste, and there was a little too much Chinese mixed in to make it purely Japanese. Then Saeki showed up.

Through boredom, Sage was scanning the restaurant with his other-sight, noting the familiar brownish-beige tint of dullness shading Tyler's fiancé's aura as well while Sage's friend regaled them with familiar stories of mission and cases.

While he looked around the drunkenly twisting room, he cursed the other-sight for blurring his real vision and giving him such a headache. It felt like there was something inside his head that jackhammered away at his temples.

Strangely, that had only begun to happen after the incident with Saeki and the bank. The headache, at least. Like the shock of being shot snapped something that did not work well broken.

"Sage? Hey, Sage, I'm gonna hit the bathroom real quick before the food gets here," Tyler excused himself. Sage watched him walk through the Picasso-like confusion of the room.

Then Sage caught a glimpse of a blindingly bright red aura. At first, he was startled and suspicious. That bright of red warned of instant danger, that something bad was going to happen.

But as he stared at it, he felt a chill creep up his back. That aura was familiar…

Almost hidden behind the red was another eye-tearing field of color, this one orange. Two more glows moved towards the red and orange ones, both blue, one bright turquoise, the other electric navy.

All were ringed with gold.

The more he stared, the more startled he became, and the more his head pounded and thudded. Black spots gathered and faded in his sight…then symbols flared on each of the fields of color.

Virtue…Trust…Justice…Life Force…

"Sage, are you all right?" Cassandra, Tyler's fiancé, reached over and gently shook his arm. He jumped and knocked over his glass of water. He snatched out his hand to catch it, but all he managed to do was stop it from pouring all over his shirt. He stood quickly.

"Oh, Sage, I'm sorry, but you looked pale all of a sudden," She apologized, grabbing napkins.

"No, it's okay, really," He tried to smirk, "I'm going to the bathroom to dry off. Tell Tyler…"

His other-sight gone because of the break in his concentration, he could now see the sign for the men's bathroom, and Tyler walking out of it, right past the table where he had seen the four glows…

"Never mind," He glanced around for an alternate route, but Fate was not working with him. He passed by Tyler right in front of The Table, and he accidentally bumped into his friend, pulling his jacket away from his side.

He heard a quiet 'What in the—?' as at least one person at the table saw the gun and holster. A grimace passed across his face when his old shoulder wound was jostled; he moved to grip the old injury.

"Ah, Sage, man, I'm sorry," Tyler grabbed his shoulders to keep them both in balance, "You okay? Your shoulder still bothering you?"

"I'm all right," Sage smirked and went into the bathroom, not sparing a glance for the owners of the four auras.

Once in the bathroom, he rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes and sighing. This was not a good day for him. How could they have found him? Were they even looking for him? After all this time, was he really the only one that had left?

How could he face them?

He grimaced as he straightened up, opened his eyes and rolled his shoulder. It was stiff, but it didn't seem to hurt so much as ache, a dull pain deep in the muscle that the bullet had torn.

"Poor Dill-Weed," A sickeningly smooth voice hissed from behind him, "Is your old war-wound still hurting? Maybe I should have kicked you there instead of in the side."

Sage's eyes widened.

"Nope, no turning around. You don't get to see my new face until after I kill you. I plan on taping a picture of me laughing inside the cover of your coffin, just so you remember who it was that beat the great interrogator."

"Saeki?"

"Smart. What's with the soaked shirt?" The end of a silencer poked him in the side, "Clumsy, aren't you? Was the glass too much for your poor shoulder to handle?"

Sage spun and grabbed the gun. They both froze.

Saeki was completely different. His face had changed, growing darker and more rugged, instead of the Asian complexion that he had sported before. His eyes, his devilishly dangerous eyes, were almost black instead of their former gray.

"Now you've seen me. I really can't let you live now," He smirked and pulled the trigger.

The explosion stunned both of them. It was too loud for a silenced gun…but it was just the right volume for a 9-millimeter Beretta handgun…

Saeki looked at the bleeding hole in his shoulder and at the ragged dent that had been punched out of the wall by Sage's bullet, the one that the blonde man never even remembered firing.

He growled in anger and grabbed his collar, "You're going to die for that, Date."

"Quit talking already," Sage's voice was hard and cold. His fist shot up and contacted solidly with his opponent's jaw. The grip on his collar loosened, and he took the opportunity to punch again.

Saeki bounced off the wall and got a hold of Sage's jacket, throwing him out of the bathroom with superhuman strength. Sage was barely able to dove out of the way as he tried to break his neck with a two-handed attack.

People panicked and ran away, scurrying from the restaurant in droves. Sage gained his feet again and faced off against the fugitive…

The look in Saeki's eyes reminded him of someone…Cale…

Everything seemed to freeze.

_This is exactly the same as being a Ronin…he's trying to kill me for doing good and protecting the people that can't fight for themselves… He realized, __I wanted to get away from that life…but now I'm smack in the middle of another crusade._

Saeki's fist met his chest with heart-stopping force, a green-yellow glow surrounding the clenched hand, throwing him back into the wall. The strength made a literal dent in the wood paneling…

"How—how did you do that?" Stunned, it was all Sage could do to try to catch his breath.

Saeki grinned, "You like my new powers? Yeah, you should know them."

He punched him again and again and again, his arms a blur of green and yellow energy, reminding one of the Matrix. Sage coughed up a sudden burst of blood, then Saeki grabbed his collar and slammed him into the opposite wall.

"Yeah, I found a cute little thing over in Japan, when you put me on the run," Saeki kicked him as he slid to the floor, "I never thought that I would like marbles, but this one was special."

"Wha—what?" The blonde agent gasped.

"Problem is, I had to steal it from a group of very protective kids," He laughed, standing over the agent, "But its mine now. And I have to kill you in order to get the full power."

"You stole Korin!" Sage cried, gaining his feet, but just barely, "That's why you've been trying to kill me! You stole the Armor of Halo!"

"Maybe you do have some untainted brain cells in your head," Saeki mused, rolling up a sleeve of his shirt, revealing green and gray subarmor…gray? "It has been mine ever since I escaped from you and that damned conviction."

Sage dove forward and reached for the man's throat. With superhuman speed, Saeki's knee had impacted with his stomach and his elbow had smashed down into his back, sending him into a heap of pain on the floor.

Sage realized something after Saeki seemed to swell with power. The more that Sage was injured, the stronger Saeki became. But how could he use that to his advantage?

"Freeze! FBI!" Tyler yelled, his gun out and at the ready. He was on the floor, out cold, before he realized that Saeki had moved. 

"Hey, Saeki, try picking on someone that has the same power level as you!" Kento…oh, God, it was Kento! Saeki grinned and made to summon Korin, the Armor of Halo. Sage could feel the power ripple out from the man's form as he cried out, "Armor of Halo, Dao—Chi!"

Sage dove forward, grabbing him in a full nelson. The energy covered them both, drowning out Saeki's cry of rage. The glow grew and pulsed around them…

When it faded, Saeki stared down at his hands. One hand was still subarmor, but the other was covered in the Armor of Halo…he looked like a mismatched warrior, his right shoulder fully armored, but the other normal subarmor.

Instead of appearing like a half-dressed samurai, Sage did not change. The only thing that appeared differently was his eyes, which blazed with a quiet, sympathetic light.

"What have you done to me!?" Saeki screamed, his eyes widening to the size of saucers. He pointed at Sage, "This is my armor now! Mine! Give it to me!"

Sage said nothing. Saeki screamed in rage. He charged, wielding the Sword of Halo. Instead of moving, the blonde agent took the brunt of the attack. The Sword pierced through his body, sending light spraying everywhere.

Saeki laughed maniacally as he tried to pull the Sword from Sage's body. Yet the former Ronin did not fall…and the Sword stayed where it was.

"What—? Die, you fool!" Saeki was about to charge again, this time with his fists, but Sage's eyes flared. The Ronins watched in purest amazement as the Sword of Halo appeared in Ryo's hands.

Sage raised his hand towards Saeki. Power streamed to Saeki's screaming and cursing form, from the former Ronin's body. 

When the glow disappeared from Sage's eyes, it was replaced by a look of purest fear and agony. But it seemed like he could not stop the energy transfer…His arms were frozen, pouring his energy into Saeki.

Ryo took the chance and dove forward, his familiar armor covering his body, unbidden, but welcome nonetheless. Saeki strained against the bonds that surrounded him, and he broke them just in time to avoid Ryo's killing blow.

The criminal reached out and grabbed Ryo's wrist. He flung him against the wood paneling, shattering the wood and sending Ryo reeling. Sage dove between them, protecting the stunned Ronin with his body.

Saeki hesitated, and it was all the time that Sage needed.

"Freeze." Sage hissed. His 9mm Beretta exploded in the criminal's face, flattening itself into the helmet, right between his eyes. While Saeki was stunned, Kento brought his fists down onto his back, knocking him to the floor. Cye pinned him with a foot, crushing his body into the floor.

Defeated, Saeki powered down…

And a quiet crystal rolled away from his hand, blackened and charred, the light inside dying tainted and destroyed. 

Rowen stepped over to Sage, a look of slight anger on his face, "Sage! For God's sake! Why haven't you called us, or emailed, or written, or something! We would have been happy with a letter in a bottle!"

Sage holstered his gun, then reached down to help Ryo to his feet. He had forgotten how heavy the subarmor made a person…

"You should have told us what you were getting into!" Rowen continued, his face growing red, "It took a maniac, hell-bent on killing you, in order to bet us all together again! Are you listening to me?"

When Rowen reached for Sage's shoulder, he stopped. Sage _was ignoring him, stepping over to his unconscious friend, who groaned and stirred. He reached down and pulled him groggily to his feet, supporting him._

"Aw, forget it Rowen," Kento snapped, "He's not one of us."

Sage turned to face them all, "If I see any of you using your armor in public, I'll book you for concealing and discharging dangerous weapons, plus attempted murder and possibly aggravated assault. Consider this a warning."

Rowen looked like he'd been stabbed. Cye, standing over the unconscious Saeki, bent down and picked up the scorched orb. Sage and his friend disappeared outside, into the screaming sirens and officers.


	2. Chapter Two

"In our top story today, a cat was rescued from the side of a cliff…" The television droned on carelessly, unaware of the matters that raged in the room that it belonged to.

"How is this possible!" Kento raged, punching the wall in anger, "He was there! We were there! Why didn't we just drag the jerk home? Not like I want him around, but he could be good for target practice…"

"Kento, relax, will you?" Cye admonished him with a hand on his shoulder, "How could say things like that?"

"What do you think, Ryo?" Rowen looked at the Japanese boy, who stared over the world of New York from the window of he and Cye's hotel room. Rowen was sitting on Ryo's bed, while Ryo stood in front of Cye's empty single.

Ryo said nothing. He just continued to look out over the city, a saddened look in his eyes. Finally, he spoke, "Kayura told us to get the armor back…"

"But the armor is dead!" Cye held the blackened marble that crumbled slowly.

"The balance between good and evil is thrown off now," Rowen sighed, "We need a warrior of Light to match Cale's warrior of Darkness."

"How do we match anything? The Armor is _dead." Kento's face was pure anger as he grabbed his jacket, "I'm going to go for a walk."_

"Kento…" Cye called after him, but it was too late, his friend had already gone.

"The armor can't be dead," Rowen said quietly, his cheeks pale, "If it was, we would have seen the effects of it already. Kayura isn't confined to Japan. She knows how to call us to get in touch with us."

"I don't have any answers, guys, I really don't," Ryo grimaced as he watched the sun go down beyond the city horizon. Finally, he turned away from the glass and leaned against the wall, glancing towards the door, "I hope Kento doesn't get into any trouble."

"Hey there, sweet thing!"

"You too busy to buy a girl a drink?"

"He's a strong one, he is! He'd be a _nice dancing partner!"_

Kento shook his head and jammed his fists into his jacket pockets as he stalked down the sidewalk, just trying to cool down. Ignoring the rude comments of the street-women, he kept going, having no particular goal in mind.

He'd never thought such a city could be so intriguing and still so…repulsive.

"You look like your best friend died."

"Huh?" Kento froze and glanced at the woman who had spoken. She was standing in the shadows, the only thing illuminating her face was the flickering flame of a lighter, which was replaced by the smoldering ember of a cigarette.

"You've got the same look that I've seen a lot of guys with," She stepped out of the darkened doorway and smiled slightly, gesturing with her cigarette, "Mind if I join you?"

"It's a free country," Kento sighed and started walking again.

"You know, I can place your accent. Japanese? Chinese?" She paused, "You aren't from around here, are you?"

"No, I'm from Japan," Kento just wanted to think, he just wanted to be alone. He wished that this woman would back off and leave him alone, "I'm here with friends."

"So who died?" She exhaled a plume of smoke.

"The world's last chance for survival," He grumbled.

"Wow, that must have really hit you hard to get you walking the streets during the twilight hours," She flicked an ash away, "Especially when you're heading for the ghetto inner-city. Not safe in there after dark."

"I can take care of myself," As soon as he said that, Kento realized how cliché it sounded.

"Not in there you can't," She shook her head, "Not unless you got a guardian, a pass-card to get you past the gang drops and ambushes. Plus you have to know where to step. If you're looking for a fight, my friend, don't take it inside."

"Take it inside? Friend?" he raised an eyebrow and stopped walking.

"You're beating yourself up for something that you can't fix on your own. You're killing yourself for something that someone else did," She drew back a long breath on her cigarette, "Getting into a fight isn't gonna fix anything. You've got to forgive them."

"Why should I? It's their fault that the world is going to end," He crossed his arms.

"You aren't speaking figuratively, are you?" She sighed and gestured with the smoldering stick of tobacco, "I don't claim to be a psychic like Madam Cleopatra or whatever. But I do know a broken spirit when I see one."

It was now that Kento realized how truly strange this woman looked. Her skin was so pale that it could have passed for white, and her hair was flat, dungy looking, and could have been any color in the streetlight.

But her eyes…

"And you have a very broken trust and spirit," She said quietly, "You should go home and forgive your friends. Whatever it is, it isn't worth killing yourself over eternity. Trust me."

Kento snorted and turned away, his arms still crossed, "Fine. But they don't deserve it."

"No one does," She patted him on the shoulder and smirked, taking one last drag off her cigarette before flicking it away, "But you have to learn how to live with people like that."

Kento looked at her for a long, quiet moment.

There was something that she reminded him of…

He chuckled.

"Here you are, giving me all this advice, and I don't even know your name," He smiled lopsidedly, "Can you give me a hint? My name is Kento."

"My name is Gwendolyn," She laughed at his facial expression, "All girls can't have names like Candy, Brittany, and Deborah, can they? You can call me Gwen, if you want."

"So, my turn to ask questions," Kento began to walk again, and she followed, "Why are you having out on the streets? Is there a reason that you hide in dark doorways, or is it just to assault passing men with advice?"

"I couldn't sleep," She admitted, "I'm packing, moving to a better part of town."

"Ah," He looked around, "Hey, shouldn't we turn around? We're heading into the ghetto, or whatever you called it."

"Yeah, let's," She shivered, making a complete about-face, "Uptown is nicer at this hour of the night anyway. I know an awesome all-night shop that serves killer bagels and coffee. Have you eaten yet?"

"Nope, but I could eat," He grinned and patted his solid stomach, "I work out a lot, so I have to keep up the food intake."

Gwen laughed, "Heh, I can believe it. Shall we?"

_Knock, knock…_

"Ergh, who is it?"

"It's me, Sage," Tyler pounded on the door again, "I know you fell asleep on the couch again, so I know that you can hear me. Open up."

"Fine, you persistent, mule-headed, rock-brained…" Sage swung open the door, "Why the hell are you standing on my door step at one in the morning when we both have to work tomorrow?"

"Remember? We're both on leave for a while, moron," Tyler stepped inside and held up the two steaming to-go cups of coffee that he gripped gently, "Anybody up for a cup of Old Mama's Home Ground Java?"

Sage groaned, but he took the cup anyway, "Come into the kitchen."

The blonde agent sat down at the kitchen table ever so gingerly. Tyler could easily see the bandages on Sage's side, shoulder, and chest under the white t-shirt, and the braces on his ankle and wrists couldn't be hidden.

"Man, that guy really beat you up, didn't he?" Tyler sipped from his cup.

"Yeah, he did," Sage grimaced, "It wasn't pretty. Be glad you were out for most of the fight."

"Yeah, with a intermediate-sized concussion!" Tyler tried to laugh, but it didn't take. Instead, he just spoke candidly and truthfully, "Sage, Saeki is dead. The only thing you have to worry about know is what tie you're gonna wear to work."

"That could be life and death in itself, especially on your end of the jungle," Sage played with the cup's cover, "Miss Cassandra Marten might have something to say about it."

"Ah, that woman is a dream," Tyler grinned and leaned back, "You know, I love the thought of getting married to a receptionist. We go to the same work, we have the same normal hours—"

"This isn't why you came over is it?" Sage interrupted him, "You're checking up on me. Why."

"Sage, look at yourself for a minute."

The blonde man gave his friend a 'are-you-serious-it's-one-in-the-morning' look.

"You're a wreck!" Tyler expelled a deep breath, "You can barely walk, your eyes are all bloodshot, and don't tell me you sleep fine, because I know that you don't. You have nightmares every night, again, don't tell me I'm wrong. You've got the look."

"Tyler—"

"These guys are your friends, Sage! And you slammed the door on them pretty damn hard," The other man continued, "They have something that you need, every old friend like that does."

"So what you're saying is to forgive and forget, right?"

"Is that so unbelievable?"

There was silence.

A police siren faded in the distance.

Car horns honked on the streets.

Sage groaned, unable to sit up straight anymore. Tyler dove across the table, grabbing his friend's shoulder. Sage looked up at him with reddened eyes.

"I don't feel—too good, Tyler…" He went limp, then his muscles seized again, "I need to sleep…"

"Yeah, no kidding."

As soon as Sage was tucked away safely in bed, Tyler cleaned up the coffee cups, turned off the lights, and left the apartment, his job done and his duty complete.

Now all he had to do was to stay awake long enough to get to his apartment…

"It's been four hours, Ryo, don't you think that we should call someone? Like the police or something?" Cye glanced up at Ryo, who had woken up early, just like he had, when their telephone had shrilled at one in the morning. The lady at the desk apologized profusely, but neither of the men had been able to fall asleep again.

"Kento will be fine, Cye, don't worry," Ryo lay on his stomach on his bed, looking out the window at the city again.

"He should have been back by now," The Briton grumbled, "He might have gotten lost. He left around nine o'clock, for crying out loud, you'd think he'd find his way back here by now…"

"We should wake up Rowen anyway. It's not fair that we have to be up and he doesn't," Ryo reached for the phone, but Cye already had it, a smirk on his face.

Moments later, the door opened, and in stepped Rowen, looking as tired as could be imagined.

"Kento's not back yet, huh?" He yawned, nearly cracking his jaw.

"Nope," Ryo rolled over onto his back.

"Do I care?"

"Nope."

"Is there a reason I'm awake right now?"

"Nope."

"Is there a reason I shouldn't kill you for this?"

"Yep."

"Tell me, I'm dying to know."

"Nope."

Rowen glared at Cye, then sank into one of the chairs, crossing his arms and looking indignant.

"We should go look for him…" Cye offered.

"It's only one in the morning," Rowen realized what he said and sighed, "Fine. Let me get my jacket."

He stood and stretched, then headed for the door. His room was the next one over, but they hadn't been able to get one that had that nice little, convenient door between them. So he had to use the hall. The cold, freezing, drab hallway…

He fumbled with his key for a second when he saw that the door was partly open. He frowned, remembering that he had slammed it quite hard on the way out.

"Kento?" He stepped inside.

"Mgrthff…" came the muffled reply, "Shut the door, Blueberry. I'm tired as heck and I don't need the extra light…"

"Where have you been—" Suddenly, as he stepped into the room, the smell of fresh baked bagels assaulted his nose. The scent of strawberry and honey cream cheeses wafted into his nose. His mouth began to water, despite his fatigue, "Are those—?"

"Go ahead, I brought some home for you guys…" Kento's words were then punctuated by the sound of contented snoring.

Rowen looked at the bag and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet goodness…

He glanced at the phone, remembering the oh-so-rude wakeup call that he had gotten, then he looked at the paper bag of bagels that seemed to beckon to him, to call him to taste their home-baked heaven…

"Nyah, they don't deserve it."

He hunkered down for a late-night snack, then headed to bed.

"Hey, guy, how's the stiff?" Tyler grinned as he peeked into the cubicle, "Guess what?"

"I'm not going to dinner with you and Cassandra again. Last time was a disaster," The blonde agent grumbled, tossing a crumpled up paper at the reddish-brown haired man. He slipped off his reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"You still gotta wear those?" Tyler gestured to the glasses that Sage now lay on the desk.

"Until the blurs go away, yeah," Sage had been unable to read close up since the 'incident' with Saeki, but it was getting exponentially better, "So what should I be guessing about?"

"Vampires."

He dropped a folder on to Sage's just-cleaned-off desk, ruining Sage's hopes for an early end to the workday.

"You aren't serious," He looked up at his friend as he opened it and pulled out a stack of pictures. Tyler nodded, surprisingly grim, and pulled out one of the pictures to lay it on the top. Sage grimaced in disgust.

"Now you know what exsanguination is," Tyler bit off a short chuckle.

"I didn't want to know," He hated color photos. He really did.

"Scully and Mulder would have a field day with this crap," Sage sighed, "Unfortunately, they're out of town. Where did they go again?"

"Juneau, Alaska," Tyler pointed to a different picture, "Security camera."

"Huh," Sage studied the grainy photograph, which was in black and white, plus liberal amounts of static snow, "Any identification yet?"

He shook his head, "Nah, but word says that we should call up one of our old street informants on this one. A Mythology and Ancient Cultures major from Cairo. Seems that he's made it his business to know all the info possible about these guys."

"You mean vampires?" Sage leaned back in his chair, "What else does he study? Walking mummies? Zombies? Zeus and Hera? Please don't tell me that he studies Shinigami and Tatsutahime."

"Don't kill the messenger."

"I can't believe that we got stuck with this," Sage rubbed his eyes, "I'm not even on real active duty yet."

"I know, and that's why I'm supposed to handle this with a new guy," Tyler crossed his eyes, "But I want you there. I want you to be in on this because, I don't know what happened at that restaurant, but I know that you have some major 'god' vibes."

"God vibes?" Sage's chest seized up.

"You know what I mean. I wasn't completely out," He shook his head, "I don't know what 'Dao Chi' means, and 'Dao Jin' could mean grande chocolate brownie frappachino for all I care, but there was some major power flowing through that place, and I think it was mystical."

Sage didn't know what to say. All his fighting against his past, and here was his partner trying to pull the rug out from under his feet…what was he supposed to tell him? 'I used to be a mystical warrior that fought evil?'

"_Hiretsukan," Sage muttered, "Fine, Tyler. What do you want to know?"_

"Nothing. If you're running from something, I don't want to rub it in your face," He shook his head, "Just check into this for me, will you?"

"Go ahead and give me the guy's address and I'll do it. Call it payback for me saving your butt at that restaurant," He finally crumbled, "But if he tries to put some voodoo spell on me, I'm gonna burn more than just his address."

"Ah, don't worry 'bout him," Tyler grinned and began scribbling on a memo pad, "He's pretty normal. Call him Professor Shirr-Be and you'll have a friend forever."

Sage sighed and took the paper, then pulled on his jacket gingerly, leaving one sleeve loose over this sling, "This address is near the ghetto district. You sure that this is right? Shouldn't he be at the university?"

"That's his home address," Tyler explained, "He just came back from a long trip in deepest, darkest India, studying the Shiva myth, so he's still writing his papers on that. Hopefully he'll be home."

"And if he isn't?"

"Check the bagel shop on Third and Albuquerque."

It took Sage the rest of the day to convince himself that this was worth it. Once he had finally gotten himself to the street, he still had to keep telling himself that, or else he would have turned around and walked away.

He rang the proper bell for 'Professor Shirr-Be.' It took three tries to finally get a response.

"He ain't here!" The landlady squawked, "Quit pounding that damn button!"

"Sorry, ma'am, do you know where he is?" Sage remained polite.

The older black woman walked towards him, peering at him from inside the door. Here eyes were surprisingly sharp and they studied him quickly, "He's out, at the Bagel Brother's Coffee Shop down on Third and Anderson."

"So much for Third and Albuquerque," Sage grumbled, "Thank you very much."

"You might want to try the university as well."

"Thank you," Sage walked away, finding that his cab had already left him. Fortunately, Third and Anderson wasn't that far away, and he needed the exercise. He never told anyone, but he still had to wear the ankle braces day in and day out.

As he walked, it seemed like the normal sounds of the city began to fade. He could still hear everything, like the motors running, but even then, that began to drift away, like it was falling into a dream.

_Something is definitely not right…_

His hand went to his sidearm and rested there, as he was unsure as what to do next. He carefully continued, heading towards the intersection ahead.

There was an explosive rush of energy as _something blew through the streets, knocking him into the wall. When the power had released him, he sank to the ground, gasping for breath._

When he stared after the _thing, all he saw was white, ghostly apparitions, molded together like some insane Picasso play-doe sculpture, with the faces of people being whirled inside._

It was like a monster from hell.

It disappeared at the next intersection, swallowing pedestrians and spitting them out against the walls…only, when they hit the bricks, they were glowing green smears of nothing even vaguely human, and their face was added to the mass.

"What the hell—?" Sage gasped, looking down at his own hands. There was a small layer of slime on his hands, but that was wiped away easily. 

He reached for his gun. But it was an acid-ridden pile of unusable metal, which he quickly dropped to the ground.

The intersection of Third and Anderson was strangely silent. Car stood stalled in the streets, their drivers' spirits gone and their 'earthly' remains smeared all over the windshields.

If he had eaten breakfast, Sage was sure that it would be all over the sidewalk.

His stomach didn't seem to care.

He lurched over to an alleyway and began to throw up, his entire form heaving as his body seemed desperate to purge the horrific images from his mind by splattering them all over the concrete.

He wiped his mouth shakily and tried not to see the piles of clothes, the glowing smears, the unclaimed animal leash, the dog completely oblivious to its masters demise, yet still sniffing and whining sadly over the crumpled Dockers pants and white button up.

The neon sign for 'Bagel Brothers Coffee Shop' flickered a few times as he shuffled by, then completely went out. The merry little bell above the door jingled, still informing the silence that there was a customer.

The story was the same inside. Spilled mochas, dropped blueberry muffins, and the same disgusting, human-shaped spatters on the wall.

"Is anyone here?" Sage called, hoping beyond everything that there might still be someone alive in here. He searched carefully, avoiding all contact with the 'departed' and their belongings, "Anyone?"

"No rest shall come to they that escaped the wrath of the Angel of Death," An ominous voice toned behind them. Sage spun to see a black robed figure point a bony hand at him.

"Who are you!" He demanded, his face turning red.

"Let those who have survived, listen unto my words!" The skeletal face jeered at them, "The Gates open even now. Great strife comes upon thy world. Seek refuge, for even now, the Lord of Lies comes!"

"What are you, some kind of prophet of doom?" Sage looked for some kind of weakness, some sort of indication that this was just another nightmare, "What did you do to those people?"

"Tis but a taste of the horrors yet to plague your world," The hand lowered, "Thee should be rejoicing for the people who, even now, make their way into heaven. Your tears should be turned inward, into yourselves."

"Behold!"

The black robed figure pointed toward the coffee shop beyond the open doorframe, "The King of Death comes!"

The blast of hot light stole all consciousness away from him.


	3. Chapter Three

"_NO!"_

Sage awoke with a scream, banging his wrist on the bedside table. His cry turned into a string of curses as he realized that he wasn't wearing his braces. He looked around frantically and dove out of bed, slamming the window open.

The familiar sounds of cars honking, police sirens wailing, and the welcome glare of streetlights greeted him. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he began to calm down, coming to the conclusion that nothing had really happened.

"Just a dream…it was all just a dream…" He convinced himself, looking at his bedside clock. The little digital numbers in the corner told him the date, "Jeez…it's still the same night that Tyler brought over the coffee…"

Just to be sure, Sage made his way quickly to the kitchen.

Yep, in the trashcan were two still-hot to-go coffee cups, marked on the side with 'Old Mama's Home Ground Java.' The sink drain still smelled of poured out coffee.

"It's five o'clock…I was just dreaming…whew…" He sighed, then chuckled, "Man, I have _got to lay off the late night caffeine splurges. This is really going too far…"_

Just as he was heading back for the bedroom, Sage turned to glance at the phone. The digital message recorder was blinking with the number '2,' telling him that he had messages that he hadn't listened to yet.

He was pretty sure that he wasn't going to fall asleep again, so he hit play.

"Hey, Sage, it's me, Ryo," Sage felt a rush of homesickness when he heard that voice, "Um, well, I just wanted to call and ask if you wanted to meet us for lunch or something. We're gonna be heading back to Toyama in a couple of days…"

_They're leaving again… Sage thought, __but this time, I might not get another chance at getting them all back…_

"…So, yeah, give us a call at our hotel if you want to, okay? We're at the Holiday Inn, rooms 763 and 762. Here's the number," Ryo rattled off the hotel's phone number and Sage had to scramble to jot it down before the message ended.

"Sunday, nine-twenty-four, p.m. Message two…" The answering machine said in a quiet voice.

"Sage, I got some bad news, man," It was Tyler, "Turns out that this Saeki guy has a little more clout than we thought. You need to lie low and be careful until the Bureau and I can get you some place safe. I'm going to be over first thing in the morning to get you, so be ready."

"Monday, three-thirty-seven, a.m., end of messages," The answering machine beeped off.

"Can my life get any more complicated?" Sage groaned and headed back to his bedroom.

He sat on his bed and tied on the wrist braces. The digital clock read five a.m., so there was no real reason to go back to sleep, if it was only for a mere hour…

Flexing his fingers hurt more than it should, but, then again, he should have been in the hospital for longer than he actually was. They had let him go home on a list of conditions like calling the hospital every day, wearing the braces, keeping the call button with him…

_Blah, blah…_

He lay down…and a second later, Tyler was rousing him out of bed.

"Come on, Sage, wake up."

"Not another dream…man, I don't need this…" He groaned and sat up anyway. Tyler pinched him in the arm and received a half-hearted punch.

"Good thing to know that you aren't dreaming." He grimaced, rubbing his shoulder, "Sage, we've got some intelligence reports on Saeki and his buddies. Seems that his friends really don't like you."

"What you're trying to tell me is that there's a black-market bounty on my head," The blonde grimaced and pulled his small duffel out from under his bed. Tyler grabbed his shoulder and shook his head.

"No time, man. You're moving out now. Don't worry, the office knows what size you wear," Tyler allowed his friend time to grab a few personal items, such as his toiletries bag, a small photo book, and a small cedar box. Sage shoved them into the duffel and followed his friend out into the kitchen.

Two other agents, Matthew Ruble and Peter Kyle, awaited them. Peter smirked at Sage's rather rugged appearance and helped him into his letterman's jacket. They all waited while Sage gingerly pulled on his boots and shoved a pair of sneakers into his duffel.

"Ready to go?" Matthew asked quietly. He and Sage had been in the hospital together after the initial bank robbery accident. He had been on the trail of a kidnapper when a drunk decided to run him off the road.

"Yeah, and let's hurry. Witness Protection wants him out of the state as soon as possible," Tyler said, helping Sage stand.

"Witness Protection? Since when was I under their jurisdiction?" Sage demanded.

"Since Saeki's old business buddies figured you were trying to shut them down." Peter pressed his ear to the door. Once he was satisfied, he opened it and the four men headed to the elevator.

An old white haired man hobbled up to join them in the car. Peter moved to hold the man back so they would have the car securely to themselves, but Sage shook his head, "Hurry, Mister Richmond, or you'll miss the elevator."

"Smart aleck kids, that's all you are. Humph." The old man grinned. He had been working the early shift at a local hotel's butler services for close to fifty years, working his way up from a bellhop. Sage had known him since coming to the United States, and knew that he had a thirty-year-old sense of humor.

Peter obviously didn't like the idea, but he managed to smile at the old man and step partially forward, making his presence known. Sage shook his head. Peter was a very suspicious man, not one to easily trust someone, even if one of his friends did.

The parking ramp was quite this early in the morning, and Sage expected it. He, Tyler, and Matthew waited while Peter called to the car. They had a special driver, one who had stayed with the car.

"Let's go, buddy." Tyler slipped into the back with Sage while Matthew got shotgun. Peter waved them off and walked back into the parking ramp.

"Where's Peter going?" He asked off-handedly as they drove into the ever-awake streets of New York.

"He's going home, of course," Tyler grinned, "He's got a wife and kids to take care of. This is a dangerous mission."

"Oh, yeah right." Sage rolled his eyes, "Where are we going, anyway? Why am I being hustled out of my home at six a.m. in the morning, forced to bring nothing but personals, and escorted to a car?"

"Honestly? Good ol' Uncle Sam wants you protected." Tyler pointed to his head. "Your other-sight or whatever it is has made you very special. You're lucky that they didn't land you in a think tank. So Witness Protection and your bosses upstairs are getting you to a safe haven."

"So that's why there's so much cloak-and-dagger?" The blonde closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a habit that he had cultivated over the past few—months?—of having to wear those dumb reading glasses.

"Yep," Matthew smirked back at them, "You're catching the red-eye out to Amsterdam. There, I go home to the US, but Tyler will stay with you all the way to Switzerland. You'll meet up with our FBI plant there—"

"Whoa, hold up! You're sending me _where?" Sage exploded._

"Switzerland," Tyler grinned lopsidedly.

That second, the car spun out wildly, sending Sage smashing against the car door. A silver car rammed them again, its windows tinted against all identification. The license plates were missing too.

The driver hit the gas, speeding away. The silver car pursued, tail-ending them.

"Diver! Head for the Holiday Inn!" The blonde agent gripped his seat belt with a death-clamp.

"Ted, don't even think about it! Sage, stop being such a rock!" Tyler jabbed a finger towards the driver, then turned to his partner, "Look. You need to be out of the country. Saeki's buddies are planning to—"

"Yeah, I get the point! They want to kill me!" He grabbed Tyler's collar, "Now you listen to me. I'm not running away to some cabin in the woods like some poor people that the 'Witness Protection' people have trapped!"

"You're not going to some—"

"Shut up!" He snapped, releasing his shirt, "If I go anywhere, it isn't going to be the Alps to yodel with Old Man Mountain, get it?"

"Well, where do you want to go?" Tyler growled angrily, "If you don't want us to save your skin, who _do you want to hang your hide on?"_

Sage turned to the driver, "Ted, right? Take me to the local Holiday Inn. Lose these jerks first."

"Course."

It was then that Sage realized that 'Ted' was a woman, and her smirk was a little too 'Dale-Earnhart-meets-Jeff-Gordan-one-on-one' for his comfort…

_Knock, knock…_

A figure dressed in black shorts and a red t-shirt lay sprawled on his bed, on top the covers, sleeping peacefully. The knocking on the door roused him from the dreamy rest, but had no effect on Cye, who slept in the other bed, snoring quietly.

_Knock, knock, knock…_

"Mister Ryo Sanada?" An authoritative voice called from the hall. Ryo knew the man, but couldn't place him just now.

"Coming, give me a second." He pulled a pair of pajama pants on over his shorts and opened the door. His eyes widened, "Sage! Tyler, right? Come on in! What happened to you two? You look like—"

"Like we nearly got run over? Yeah, you'd be right," Sage grimaced. The car door had clipped his leg as it dropped them off and sped away. The car that had been chasing them hadn't seen Ted and Matthew drop them off, and continued to chase the government-issue sedan.

"What's going on, Sage?" Ryo asked, motioning for them to sit at the hotel room table. He saw the duffel that Sage carried, a small, underpacked bag, "Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"Not on purpose," He responded quietly, "Ryo…I'm in trouble."

"What do you mean?" His black-haired friend looked eager to help, "What can we do?"

"I can't stay in New York," He admitted finally, "I—well…"

"He refuses to go where the government tells him to, so we were wondering if he could go back to Japan with you, so he could have the protection of old friends," Tyler rambled that out seamlessly, as if he had been practicing.

Ryo was a little stunned, but he leaned back and grinned, "No problem. Mia kept your old room the way it was."

"Serious?" Now it was Sage's turn to be amused.

"Of course. Who else is going to use it?" Ryo laughed, then became serious, "Transportation. We only have our four tickets."

"No problem. The office can get a set of one-ways for Sage." Tyler nodded.

"Clothes?" Sage grimaced, embarrassed.

"I have the duffel that the office put together right here," After Tyler slid it over to him, Sage realized now that the bag was the reason that Tyler had stumbled on his way out of the car.

"Sleep?"

They looked over at Cye, who was sitting up in bed and yawning, "Hey, Sage. What's up with the early morning pow-wow? Did I –_yawn– miss something?"_

"Yeah, kinda," Ryo snorted, a grin on his face, "Sage is coming back with us to Japan."

"That's nice. Tell him to remember to bring the sauce and chicken from the deli," With that mumbled, Cye fell back asleep, muttering things about chicken salad sandwiches and au gratin potatoes.

Sage, Tyler and Ryo looked at each other, then burst out laughing. It took them almost ten minutes to get 'the giggles' out of their systems. 

After that, Ryo called down to the front desk and called up a cot and set it up right in front of the door for Tyler, who insisted on keeping watch over the entrance. Sage got the couch and Ryo returned to his own bed.


	4. Chapter Four

It was almost noon by the time Sage woke up again. His entire night had been a hectic nightmare, and it took him a few minutes to get orientated once he shook the cobwebs from his aching head.

"Morning, glory," Ryo said from the other side of the room, where he had just finished pulling on a t-shirt over his long sleeved Fox Racing shirt, "Sleep well?"

"I feel like I have a permanent hangover," He grimaced and sat up, then realized what time it was, "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"Cye thought that it would be a bad idea. Something about sleep being good for the soul," Ryo grinned, "Just kidding. I just woke up a few minutes ago myself. Shower is all yours while Cye gets breakfast and the others."

Sage was thankful for the beating heat of the hotel shower. It bruised and invigorated him. He was equally grateful for the fact that he brought his own shampoo. He was used to taking short showers, but he spent a longer time under the water, just letting the jet beat the kinks out of his back.

Once he had finished doing his hair, he opened the duffel that Tyler had given him last night. Inside he found the normal necessities, underwear, t-shirts…

Somebody had a sense of humor. Under the three white button-ups and two pairs dress pants, khaki both, were three pairs of casual pants, all jeans. Also hidden underneath were long sleeved and short sleeved shirts, obviously someone's idea of casual.

He decided on the jeans and a gray t-shirt with 'Army' written on the front in black letters. Staring at himself in the mirror, he realized that he missed going casual. It felt like he was sixteen again.

"Who's up for Krispy Kremes?" He heard Cye call from outside, and the door closed behind him. Sage chuckled and stepped out of the bathroom, setting 'his' duffel under the coat hangers.

"Hey, Sage! I remember something about you bringing chicken sandwiches last night, but I can't pick it all out," Cye grinned and pointed at the open box that lay on the bed that the maid had fixed, "Dig in. Ryo is going to get Rowen and Kento."

"Hmm, Krispy Kremes…" Tyler laughed from where he sat by the window, "The food of all ages, races, and nationalities."

"Definitely," The Briton chuckled and grabbed his own doughnut, joining Sage at the table. He stepped on a discarded shoe, Ryo's by the look of it, and lost his balance. The blonde grabbed his wrist, keeping him steady, "Thanks. You've been working out."

"I guess," He shrugged.

"You aren't the wussy little brain-buster that you used to be," Rowen shot good-naturedly from the doorway. He, Kento, and Ryo came into the room. Sage stood.

"Hey, Sage." Kento seemed a little awkward, and Sage knew that he probably did not look any better.

He nodded, "Hi. Um…" He gestured to the box, "Hungry?"

"Aw, c'mon, Blondie. You've been gone for a while, but that doesn't mean that we all changed." He grinned suddenly and loped over to the box, wrapping his arm around Sage's neck, "Course I'm hungry."

They laughed and Kento released his neck while going for a couple of doughnuts.

"What happened to Kento?" Ryo whispered to Rowen, "I thought he would never talk to Sage again. Now look at them. They're joking like nothing ever happened."

"I guess Kento had a heart-to-heart with some psychologist chick last night when he was blowing off steam," Rowen shook his head, "All night he was mumbling stuff about Gwen, bagels, and some girl's doctorate papers that she was writing."

"Whoever she was, she did a number on him," Ryo grinned, "Think Kento finally got a girlfriend? Wonder if he is planning on getting her to move to Toyama with us."

"I heard that!" Kento stuck out his tongue, "For your information, Gwen is a very nice person."

The rest of conversation was spent talking about different things, how Mia and Yuli were doing, what was new in Japan, how Kayura and the Warlords fared. Then Kento broke the carefree mood.

"So, Sage, why are you coming back to Japan with us?" He sipped his water.

Everyone saw Sage's face go dark, even though he tried to hide this by taking a drink of coffee. Tyler saw his discomfort and made the save of the century.

"Hey, Sage, you were supposed to wash your stitches last night, but you never did," he tossed his friend the iodine, "You'd better do that before anything else."

After Sage had disappeared in to the bathroom, Kento looked at Tyler strangely, "I don't get it. Why'd you just do that? Can't he talk about it, or is it classified, for-your-eyes-only stuff?"

"About a week ago, Sage killed Saeki, remember? You guys were there." Tyler lowered his voice, "Well, Saeki had a following, and they're hell-bent on getting rid of Sage. Witness Protection wants him in Switzerland, on a flight that left last night. If he doesn't show up in Zurich, Switzerland at about eight p.m. our time, they're probably going to assume that they got us."

"How do you let them know that you are still alive?" Rowen asked, biting into his custard-filled.

"We can't, at least, not unless I can get back into the office." The roan-haired agent shook his head, "If I do that, I'm afraid that I'll be followed. If that happens, they could follow me back here and kill Sage."

"This is a whole lot of cloak-and-dagger games for a simple agent," Ryo said off-handedly, fishing for more information.

"Sage has something that the bosses call 'other-sight,' where he can see other people's auras and tell if they're telling the truth, what emotions they're feeling, stuff like that," Tyler shook his head, "He's a 'valuable asset.' They won't let him go without a fight."

"Makes me feel so much better," Kento grumbled and polished off his third doughnut.

"Hey, if he wasn't a lucky bastard, he'd be locked away in a room somewhere, with experiments and stuff like that," He snorted, "Tabloids would say that he was kidnapped by aliens."

"When does our plane leave?" Sage held the unopened bottle in his uncaring hands, "And how are we going to get tickets if we can't contact the office?"

"I'll call and fill them in the situation," Tyler grabbed his cellphone and left, quickly.

"Hey, Sage, it's not that big of a deal." Cye shrugged, "I mean, we've dealt with a lot bigger problems. Besides, Mia will be glad to see you."

"Sure," Sage was quiet and withdrawn for the rest of the day, reading and looking out the window until the sun sank below the horizon. He fell asleep quickly, and the others were worried about him. And about Tyler, who had not yet returned from making his call.

"That's it. I'm going after him," He sat up suddenly.

"Who? Me?" Tyler stepped in the door, looking tired, "Kento introduced me to his friend Gwen. We went out for coffee and lost track of time. Sorry, buddy."

Kento stepped into the room behind him, with a young lady on his arm. She wore a black stocking cap over dark brownish-red hair that looked either wet or on its fourth day. Her skin was almost as white as the snow that should have been falling outside.

"Hey, Sage, Ryo, guys, this is Gwen," Kento grinned, "Gwen, this is Ryo, Cye, Rowen, and Sage."

"Pleased," She smiled, tossing her head to shake a stray piece of hair out of the way. She shook hands and caught the way that they were looking at her, "I guess I'm not the way that you expected psychology majors to look, huh?"

"Not even close," Ryo grinned and shook her hand.

She glanced at her watch, "Well, it was nice meeting you, but I really do have to go, Kento. My make-up class starts early tomorrow morning and I can't afford to be tired. And I promised that I'd meet a friend at a club tonight."

"Gwen? Just a second," Sage stepped forward a moment, "Just out of curiosity, do you have a tattoo?"

"Why?" She looked at him, confused. Kento also gave Sage a weird look.

"Just curious," He shrugged.

"Yeah, I have an angel's wing on my shoulder," She set her backpack on the floor, leaning against her leg, while she slipped the collar of her shirt down over her shoulder. There was a black outlined angel wing stylized on her shoulder blade, "Now, why did you ask?"

"Friend of mine knows you," Sage smiled slightly, "He works in a tattoo parlor in uptown and mentioned your name, said he did his best work. I just wanted to see what he did that he was so proud of. Now I see he really does have bragging rights."

"Thanks," She smiled and picked up her bag, "See you, Kento. You have my number. Oh! I'll be at the airport if I can."

"All right, I'll see you," Once she was gone, Kento turned on Sage, "Now what was that?"

"I just wanted to know whether she was a friend or not," He sank back on the bed, "That friend at the tattoo parlor? He does the marks for Saeki and his gang, or used to. He's been struggling for customers ever since I put Saeki down."

"And you wanted to see if Gwen had the mark," Cye fit the pieces together, "If she did, then we couldn't trust her."

"Bingo," Tyler gave Sage a 'what-will-I-ever-do-with-you?' look and tossed a folder into his lap, "You could trust your partner a little more, eh? That's Gwendolyn Scot's entire record, from parking tickets to high school detentions."

"You did a background check on my friend?" Kento began to turn red.

"Welcome to the world of the FBI," Sage sighed and didn't even look at the folder. He handed it to Kento, "Read up, if you want. Otherwise Tyler can burn it. It's copies, right?"

Tyler nodded and Kento took the folder, biting his lip. He shrugged and set the folder down on the table, trying to forget. Meanwhile, Ryo came back from never-never-land, casually inspecting his shoes for scuffs.

"Our plane leaves tomorrow morning," He grimaced, "I don't think Sage should have to be cooped up in this room until then."

"Nope. Leaving would be putting all of us in danger," Tyler crossed his arms.

"Aw, c'mon, Tyler! I don't want to sit on that couch all night and wish I was somewhere else," Sage sighed, "How about the Metropolis? That's a nice quiet place to go where we can't be recognized."

"Quiet? Sage, you couldn't walk in there without being recognized," Tyler grimaced, "You can't go anywhere to relax, at least no place we've been before! People know you too well. You make friends too easily. Somebody could point you out and it would be all over."

"Someplace new then, someplace that these guys would enjoy too," The blonde gestured to his friends, who were standing around in various poses of indignant expressions at being left out of the conversation.

"What about a restaurant? A nice, Japanese-style restaurant—" Tyler was cut off by groans and grimaces from all around the room.

"What you Americans call Japanese food is horrible!" Cye made a face, "I mean, the only place worth eating is McDonalds."

"Hardee's, then?" More groans and the sounds of Kento mock-puking.

"Even I can't eat that," He screwed up his nose.

Sage glanced at Tyler, a knowing glint in his eyes, "How about…LeAnn Chin?"

"Okay, even this is better than home, and that's saying quite a bit," Rowen admitted, taking another bite of his orange chicken, "This is good. Nice and spicy hot."

"Same way you like your women, right?" Kento snickered and the rest of them laughed. Sage had to admit, this was better that sitting in the room, wasting away into a pile of bones and blonde hair. Kento noticed his tired look, but thought it best not to say anything.

Sage readjusted his letterman's jacket and sighed, leaning back in his chair. It felt weird to be hanging out with his friends ago, after so long. He was still surprised after all he'd done to them, that they even accepted him as a human being. 

Especially Kento.

He heard the glass shatter just after a body flew into him, knocking him over backwards. He hit the ground hard, but the brick hit harder, smashing into the wall and putting a huge crater into the plaster.

Cye was on his knees, holding his head gingerly. Rowen was kneeling next to him, holding a napkin to his bleeding forehead where the brick has grazed him on its deadly path.

_It's happening… Sage's eyes widened as Ryo, who had saved his life, helped him stand up. __They're starting to get caught in the crossfire. I've been seen with them. Saeki's friends know who they are…_

"Sage? Sage." Tyler shook his shoulder, "You okay?"

"Let's go back to the room," He said shakily, "I don't feel like being in the open anymore."

Their plane ride was uneventful, other than Kento's not-so-secret glances at the picture Gwen had given him when they left. Sage was going to comment, but he thought best not to.

Meals were a covert thing. As soon as the waitress left, Tyler would take Sage's and his plates and throw them away, just in case. So, for the long flight to Amsterdam, Blondie had to live on peanuts and little things that he had bought in the airport.

The in-flight movie wasn't even that good, and he found himself dozing off, which didn't surprise him. His _life had been an action/adventure flick, so he didn't need to watch it on television._

He took another bite of his apple and closed his eyes, thinking of home, where he was going to be in several hours. If they met their connection like they were supposed to, he would be sleeping off jet-lag in his old bed, in his old room.

He missed that room. After many failed attempts at trying to recreate it in New York, he found that he was a failure in interior decorating. He kept trying though, and eventually cobbled together a believable mockup of his former abode.

It seemed to make him homesick, but he refused to change it, even after he had caught himself crying a little.

The plane hit a pocket of turbulence, which jolted him from his reverie, then returned to normal. His stomach growled in protest and fell into a series of rather painful cramps and nausea.

"Hey, Tyler, I gotta hit the lav, okay?" He scooted past the empty seat and his friend, who had insisted on the aisle seat. The aisles were completely open, as everyone was either engrossed in the movie, or reading, sleeping, doing something worthwhile to waste time.

The bathrooms were all open, except one, which made the choice easy. Sage just ducked into the nearest one and locked the door behind him. 

He splashed water on his face, trying to regain his composure. He hated flying. It made him nervous, sick, and all around irritable sometimes. He was too busy focusing on getting home to be cranky this time.

Something bumped against the door, and he heard stewardesses talking outside. Plastic glasses and empty pop cans clattered against each other as they began to clear out their carts. 

_Hmm, stuck in a lavatory. Grimacing, he sat down on the closed toilet and waited._

Sage took the time that he was trapped in the bathroom to reflect on how much he really took for granted. Actually, he counted his fingers over and over again until a female gasp and scraping noise came from outside.

He opened the door and the stewardess apologized profusely. She was quickly forgiven and Sage moved quickly back to his seat, where Tyler had begun to get worried, "Where have you been?"

"I got barricaded in the bathroom," He smirked and settled into his seat again.

Time passed quickly from then on, as Sage somehow found the strength—or fatigue—to fall asleep. 


	5. Chapter Five

"No. We didn't"

"Uh…yeah, we kinda did."

"Ryo!"

"What? I don't have any power over how the system works! It's not my fault."

"That's Rowen's department, right?"

"What?" The blue haired man looked scared, "I couldn't do anything! I'm—wha—oh, quit ganging up on me! I got no more power over what happened than you do!"

Sage couldn't help but laugh. It was too ironic, too hilarious to even fathom the consequences. In short—

They had missed their connection.

It was no one's fault, really. The runways had been packed with planes landing and taking off, so theirs had been forced to circle. Unfortunately, one of the planes that was taking of had been their next one.

"Hey, blondie, there's no reason to laugh! You don't see me giggling over here, do you?" Kento crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I know," He grinned, "I haven't eaten a real meal for twelve hours. Let's grab a lunch, huh?"

"Dinner," Tyler corrected him.

"Do I care, just as long as it's food," He stretched and Kento jabbed him in the stomach.

"You're starting to sound like me."

"God forbid," Sage grinned and they picked up their bags, heading for the nearest food court. As economical as ever, he headed for the Steak and Potato Company, his taste buds all ready for a gyro.

Cye followed him, as did Tyler. They talked while in line, about everything and anything that they hadn't thought of while on the plane. There was a considerable lack of topics, but it seemed to settle on what ethnic food was the best, and whether pizza was really from Italy.

This argument lasted far into their forced layover, and Sage found himself tiring of the company. They were still in Amsterdam, but the airport had given them a hotel room until their new flight the next morning, which should get them to Japan late that night.

"God, I love Clarion Inns," He collapsed face first onto his chosen bed, plucking the pillow out from under the stiff hotel blanket with numbed fingers. He hugged it to his chest tightly as he turned onto his back, trying to breathe a little easier.

"Hey, Sage, you all right?" Tyler asked, sitting on his own bed to pull off his shoes, "How's the injuries?"

"Other than the fact that they're lasting way beyond what I'm used to—" He groaned as he bent his wrist too far one way, "—Oh, man, it may hurt, but, damn, it feels good to move. Every muscle is screaming for a nice, old-fashioned shoot-out."

"I'll go call the OK Corral and see if they can book us a reservation for high noon," Tyler joked, running a hand through his hair. He reached for the remote, but Sage snagged it first and flicked on the television.

"Okay, now, news," He sighed as Dutch, German, British, and other channels flashed by. Finally, he hit CNN, "Gotcha. Let's see what's going down in the good ol' US of A."

"Turn it up," Tyler motioned for him to look at the screen, "That's our car!"

"Two FBI agents were severely injured in a deadly car crash yesterday, after an unknown assailant ran them off the road and into the ravine that you see behind me," The newscaster spoke gravely, as they were trained to do. "Agent Matthew Ruble is in stable condition in Lady of the Angels Medical Center, but Agent Theodora Donovan was killed instantly…"

"Ted…" Tyler turned white, "And Matt…"

"At least Matt's alive," Sage lay back on the bed, tired now, beyond all belief.

"Ted was Cassandra's sister," The darker-haired agent stared at the television as it flashed images of the accordian-ized car, the crash site, and the white shroud that lay over a form on the highway. 

"Tyler, why are we running from this? Why aren't we standing up and bringing these guys to the law?" He turned to his stupefied friend, "We're _running, for crying out loud. I thought that we would never do that."_

"Japan is your home turf. If they want you that bad, you'll have the home field advantage, right?" Tyler shook his head, "Besides, you got friends there that can take care of you and let me go home."

"My home turf is Washington now," The blonde grimaced and removed his ankle and wrist braces, sighing at the stiffness that was released, "But I know enough about Toyama and Japan to have an advantage again, I guess."

"Oh, man," The other pointed at the screen, "They're talking about us!"

Sage unmuted the television.

"—are missing. Thought to have been in the car with the two other agents, these two men have not been found and have thought to have been taken prisoner by the assailant," The British voice was slow, but dramatic in its monotony. "Pending notification of next of kin, their names have not been released as of yet."

Sage looked at Tyler, then up at the door that connected their room to Ryo and Rowen's. Both Ronins came bursting in at the same time, and Kento and Cye, who had been talking with them, slipped in as well.

"Sage, are you watching this?" Rowen demanded.

"Yeah," He nodded, "I can't believe it."

"They think that you're hostages," Ryo sat on Sage's bed, moving a wayward brace out of the way, "How can we use that?"

"No clue," Sage was slightly uncomfortable. He hadn't cleaned the stitches in his side and shoulder lately, and his braces were lying out in plain sight of the others. He didn't want them thinking that he couldn't take care of himself. "Maybe, if we think that someone else got to us first—"

"—No they would have searched the car after they ran them off the road. They know that we got away. They just don't know where to," Tyler shook his head, "We all need our sleep, so how about we just go to bed and try to forget this?"

Everyone agreed in their own way. Sage fell back onto the bed and covered his face with the pillow while the others grunted, sighed, and yawned their approval of the plan. A rude awakening awaited Sage when he sat up and strained the last few stitches in is side.

"_Yeeoowch__!" His cry of surprised pain sent Tyler dashing out of the bathroom, toothbrush still in his mouth, "I'm okay! Honest! I just pulled something."_

"You scare me like that, you aren't gonna need Saeki to kill you," Tyler narrowed his eyes.

Sage stood and milled around the room, absentmindedly itching at his shoulder. The last few stitches on both wounds were due to fall out any day now, but they were still tender to the touch.

Thinking that a nice cold drink might be a good idea, he grabbed the ice bucket, "Hey, Tyler, I'm going to get some ice. I'll be back in a minute or two."

In hindsight, he wished that he hadn't.

The ice machine was loud, but not as loud as the bullet shot. The plastic bucket in Sage's hand clattered to the floor, spilling ice over the tiled surface as he jerked his hand away from the machine.

The bullet lodged itself in the fake wood front, spraying paper and plastic into his face. He spun to dive behind a Pepsi machine as the next bullet shattered the plaster in the wall next to his ear.

"Where's Tyler when I need him?" He muttered, then patted the pop machine, "How did they know where we were? How did they know that we would be here?"

Another bullet, this one closer. He saw the source of the gunfire. A man, Chinese by appearance, was crouched in a hotel room doorway, holding the gun trained on him. Other patrons had looked out of their rooms in morbid curiosity, while others had ducked back in and no doubt gone for their phones.

"Sage!" A bullet shot, this one recognizable, tore up the carpet in front of the gunman's hideaway. 

"Tyler! About time! Did anyone call the police?"

"Oh, yeah, like Nine-One-One really answers in Amsterdam," His friend's satiric voice was almost enough to make Sage wish for home.

Another bullet thudded into the pop machine front, and Sage felt a stab of pain as the vender bucked against his shoulder. He could see his wrists beginning to bruise again, and he didn't even want to look at his ankles.

"FBI man!" The gunman called, a grin in his voice, "I make you a deal. You come out and make this easy for me, or we cost Pepsi and company another few hundred to replace the Swiss cheese that the box is going to become."

"Cocky, bastard, aren't you?" Sage snapped, and the next bullet shuddered deeper into the vender.

"I have a reason to be," The man laughed, "I have a nice clear shot at you, kid, and I don't plan to miss."

Another shot rang out and Sage fell forward against the wall, pain screaming through his chest as his shoulder hit the wall. He rolled against the vertical surface, hand pressed to his side. 

How the bastard had reopened the stitches, he would probably never know. All he knew now was that his old wound was open again, and bleeding, though not as bad as a gunshot usually would have.

"With this, I could have killed out at any time, blondie," The gunner called, "Hey. Other FBI man! Tell your friend to be smart!"

"He is the smart one!" Tyler scoffed.

"Then we go to option two," The door slammed closed. 

Without thinking, Sage dove into the open, intending to break in the door that the gunman had disappeared into. This was a gamble the Chinese man had taken as well. Sage barely had time to kick the boxy-looking weapon out of his grip before the gunman fell into a Tae Kwon Doe stance.

He launched a flurry of punches, hoping to catch Mr. Chinese Man off guard. Each punch was blocked or avoided, and the gunman returned his attacks with equal fury. Blocking wasn't enough for him.

Sage swung down and blocked a kick, then swung his arms up to ward off a right hook to the jaw. Without thinking, he pulled back and let fly, landing a haymaker to Chinese Man's jaw.

The Man's head snapped back and he was stunned long enough for Sage to horse-kick him in the stomach, but he recovered quickly from the agent's sudden change from martial arts to brawling.

Sage nimbly avoided the next few kicks, thankful that his ankles did not hurt anymore. He was lucky that he, at least, had not reinjured them recently. His left wrist was a different story, however.

Chinese Man snapped his hand out, snagging Sage's collar. Old karate came back into play, and he easily broke the hold, slipping, once again, out of range.

_Now the gunman fought dirty._

A horse-kick, similar to his own, hit Sage in the chest, knocking him onto the floor. Out of sheer irony, he realized dumbly that his side really wasn't bleeding all that much. _I must be healing better than I thought…_

A gunshot from Tyler's gun knocked Chinese Man back, spinning him around before dropping him to the floor. Breathing heavily, Sage allowed Kento to haul him to his feet.

"Man, you really do need us," Kento looked down at the motionless man.

"He's moving!" Tyler cried, shoving Kento and Sage into the alcove that housed the vending machines. Two gunshots went off simultaneously, and Chinese Man fell still, this time really dead.

Tyler slumped back against the wall and slid, leaving a smear of red where his back had touched. He was breathing shallowly, but was still alive when Sage knelt beside him, slapping his face.

"Tyler! Tyler, talk to me!" He cried, ripping off his own t-shirt to use as a pressure bandage. Kento grimaced at the sight of his reddened bandages, "C'mon, man, a little gunshot like this never got me down, and I'm a desk jockey, remember?"

"Well that—shot—felt like I got—kicked by a bull," Tyler wasn't struggling to breath because of the injury, he was out of breath because he had gotten the wind knocked out of him, "Whoo, that hurts, Sage…It ain't that bad, though."

"Yeah, I know," Sage heard the sound of running footsteps and saw Ryo and Rowen move out of the way, making room for Cye to lead the law enforcement in.

They moved Tyler out of the hotel in an ambulance, after making a promise to contact the United States Embassy about his friend's injuries…and existence. Sage was left to answer question after question, writing statements and such, until he felt like tipping over from fatigue.

The flight was catching up to him, and he was tired.

Finally, when it was all over, and the officers were gone, he lie down on his bed and fell asleep, the aching pain in his wrists forgotten.


End file.
